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Garden Confessions - 3 Worst Crops of 2016!

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We've worked hard in the garden and allotment this year and been pleased with most of our harvest. But there have been some poor performing crops and I'm interested to see if others have had problems with these edibles too. I'd be grateful for any advice to help us do better next year :)

https://dogwooddays.net/2016/10/08/taking-stock-the-three-worst-crops-of-2016/

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Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    Sweet corn grew well but flavour not as good.

    Red onion seed, one germinated.

    White onions, grew but weather atrocious so planted out late. They may make pickling onion size.

     Runner beans , very poor crop.

     French beans, cropped, stopped but now cropping again.

    Courgettes turning into marrows in two days flat.

    Brukale growing well. kale eaten by slugs.

    Good crop of raspberries.

    I blame the weather.

     There's always next year.

  • Blimey - that sounds rough. We don't always do too well with germinating onions either, but the courgettes and beans have been pretty good.

    Hope next year brings you more success image

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,091

    Failures:

    Any brassicas I didn't net were turned to sticks so more nets next year.

    All the beans suffered from the incessant strong winds this summer. Need to build a much stronger support frame next year - a bamboo wigwam is simply not up to the task. Did get some though.

    Not one squash to my name. 

    Plums also a total failure. I think the tree is fatally diseased image

    Successes:

    Blueberries. Huge crop

    Cavolo nero. Still going strong

    Brussels 'Clodius'. Not started eating them yet but they look great

    Greek gigantes bean - the one stand-out bean. Never grown it before but will definitely grow it again next year.

    Carrots. I actually got some image

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Yay for carrots, cavelo nero, brussels and beans! ☺ Our blueberries were good this year too and we had good plums, but no such luck with the pears... ? 

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,091

    Haven't got a pear tree yet.

    It's on the list...

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,032

    Got a good early crop from Firestorm runner beans then we had such a hot summer and no rain that all the flowers fell of the Scarlet Emperor and the Firestorm packed up.

    Sweet peppers were great last year but were small and shrivelled this year despite watering.

    Perpetual spinach failed to germinate. Second sowing produced 2 weedy plants.

    The curly kale isn't curly, looks like cow food.

    Sweet corn, broad beans (because before the hot weather), courgettes and cucumbers did well. Tomatoes were OK but kept getting eaten by thirsty birds, despite water left out for them.

    Onion sets did well, but spring onions didn't germinate. They never do, why do I bother? OH likes them.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Worst crop of tomatoes in the greenhouse for 30 years. New shoots were growing out of the end of the actual trusses, never had that before. Gardeners delight usually brilliant, sparse, a complete disaster.

    slugs and snails by the million devastated the brassicas and the first early potatoes, Rocket, were full of slugs and wire worm. No plums, no squash, poor sweet corn and non existent 2nd year asparagus

    good job the onions shallots and leeks are spectacular. The raspberries, red and black currants and rhubarb, superb, enormous crops. Bramley apples very large. Greenhouse cucumber superb.

    A cold wet spring and a lack of hedgehogs and frogs have not helped the harvest festival image 

  • BLTBLT Posts: 525

    I can echo some of that Yep Gardners Delight Toms not so good this year// Golden sunrise better, Marmande good flavour but a small crop, fair crop on the roma toms, in my freezer now for bolognaise in the future..  Onions not so good, Garlic got more than enough to last me and gave some away to. Cues grew 4 varies, not good, mishapen and only 4 decent sized oned off 4 plants..  Butternut Squash 4 good plants,flowers etc good healthy plants but no bees so soft brush fertiliser job yeilded one tiny 2 inch squash which dropped of....  Will think twice about growing those again.. Mate had 4 plants in poly tunnel got one smallish squash not really big enough to be useful..

     Runner beans smallcrop onlu French Beans zero...   

    Potatoes pretty good gave up with the earkies, so Main crop King Edwards, very good no disease at all and all save spuds (not expensive certifuedseed)      Maris Piper (Certified seed)  Very small rop only disease was a tiny amount of Wire worm on3 tubers.. But will not bother again as such a small crops for the amount of plants..

    Strawberries small amount due to weather being so hot, Cherries got abot 10 as birds got into ym net...  Raspberriesvery ew a lot of canes didn't sprout...

    Will re think accordingly for next season.... Oh and omly got 3 of my sweetheartcabbages, the cabbage whites got the rest, broccoli was spindly, they were netted too.

    Last edited: 08 October 2016 23:13:21

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  • ClaringtonClarington Posts: 4,949

    Due to house improvements the only things I grew were strawberries. By grow I mean throw water at occassionally; thing is I'm now struggling to get them to stop flowering! I didn't get a good crop I.e. enough to make anything with but rather a constant flow of just enough to have been eaten before they got back to the kitchen.

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